miss fortune mystery (ff) - jewel of the bayou by belford amy jo

Author:belford, amy jo [belford, amy jo]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Published: 2015-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

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“Now, Mrs. Langstrom, this is our photographer, and he’ll be taking your picture today.” As Deacon Ryan introduced her to Jack, the way he hovered over his guest of honor made him seem more like a vulture than anything else, but I suppose there was some sense to that. It’s not every day that a juicy roll of bank notes plops itself down in front of you, just ripe for the taking.

“So you’re the photographer?” she said, and she took a long look at Jack and sized him up. “Not exactly what I expected.”

I’m not sure what she expected, but apparently when she thought ‘photographer’ the image that came to mind was not someone who looked like he belonged in the Special Forces. Jack hadn’t shaved – too focused on photography, probably. It was giving him a particularly rugged look, and I was guessing that when he had run his fingers through his hair few minutes ago, it wasn’t for the first time today. His mussed up hair seemed to fit him better anyway than yesterday’s careful combing had done, and it really set off those remarkable blue eyes. He still was wearing his dark suit, but the way the fabric was stretching tight over his muscles made him seem more ready for a bar fight than a church social.

He looked Mrs. Langstrom straight in the eye.

“I get that a lot,” he said. “Guess you’ll just have to trust me to make the magic happen. Let’s go inside.”

I’d seen him looking at his watch as we pulled up, and I had thought at the time that he must be calculating how slowly we were going. Now I realized that he must have finished up all of the other pictures for the Directory yesterday and today, and Mrs. Langstrom had to be the last name on his list. He’d been waiting for us to arrive, and he probably couldn’t wait to wrap things up and head on out of town.

I don’t know why, but that gave me a sinking feeling. Probably just my good manners making sure that I felt bad about keeping someone waiting, I suppose. Even someone as provoking as Jack.

Apparently Mrs. Langstrom thought he was provocative, too.

“Inside?” she said to him. “Just what kind of photographer do you think you are? We can’t do this inside that old church. That doesn’t make any sense at all. The whole point is for us to take advantage of this lovely golden light.” She waved her hand theatrically toward the west. “It’s the golden hour. The perfect time for pictures.”

“Nope,” Jack said. “Not gonna happen. We’ve got our own light inside, and we’re ready to go.”

“It’s true,” said Deacon Ryan. “You won’t believe how nice you’ll look.”

“Won’t believe it? Darn tootin’ I won’t believe it!”

“The artificial light is more dependable, too,” he went on. “More consistent.”

“More consistent that he last golden rays of the sun? Nonsense! Or do you think that this ruffian you’ve hired is better than all the great artists of the Renaissance, the Dutch masters, the…”

Ida Belle hooted.

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